Tracking North Korean economic transformation and trends in economic research

Abstract

If North Korea's economic transformation has been largely informal and contested at the level of the state, to what extent is North Korea's economic transformation reflected in North Korean economic research? In this article, we analyze a dataset of North Korean domestic journal articles on economics from 2000 to 2019. We trace trends over time in the topics covered by economics research in North Korea, and compare them with formal changes in North Korean economic policy under Kim Jong-il and, particularly, Kim Jong-un. Research in potentially economic transformation-related topics tends to increase in response to formal economic policy changes. Kim Jong-un's rule has seen the development of an integrated economic research networks, and a shift to articles that have focused on the practicalities of implementing policies. We close with implications for unification and engagement.